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I have been showing my system to friends and now their interests are getting keener. I think there are a lot of people who feel you need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to get a great hi-fi when in reality that just isn't so. Yes you can spend that money but you can also spend what your budget will allow and still get a great system.

Right on. Pieces like the very attractive Arcam Solo make it easy for people to jump into hi-fi. Single-box systems remove whatever intimidation factors there may be. All you have to do is plug it in, connect it to your speakers, and press play. Coming into it almost completely naive, I loved the Solo for its simplicity, convenience, and looks, and, of course, the sound quality was an enormous leap from the boombox I was listening to. These sorts of benefits offer lots of fun, and are immediately obvious to most casual listeners.

I love the Solo!

Thanks for such an enthusiastic post, Rich. It's great to hear stuff like this.

I certainly hope you're right, Rich, and that lots of young people are on the brink of the kind of commitment you've just made to hi-fi. Many factors, as I suspect you know, seem to be pointing in the other direction. You point to one of them in your post - buying that 99 cent download instead of a CD. How do you reconcile low rez downloads with the pursuit of higher fidelity?

I too hope that you are correct, but I am not seeing it.
I even work at a major defense company that employs many technology savy people. Still I see no interest in quality music. Mostly interest in how many hours can be loaded into X amount of memory.
The other day a machinist coworker that is a perfectionist at his job to the point of being a pain in the ass, said to me "you are in to this kind of stuff, what would you recommend for a surround sound system"? I was so excited about this. To select from a clean slate a new system.
Then he added "for about $200". How do you respond to that?

I would hope that there will be more audiophiles. I've already introduced high-end audio to at least two co-workers many years ago, and more recently to one of my nephews. I found that most people who have heard my system noticed the clear sound and marvel at how it can be so, but are not interested in pursuing further the search for the best sound; they appear to be content or tolerant to what they already have and also have other priorities.

As to your machinist's question, I would have answered that there are no systems at $200 that I would recommend that would satisfy me. But if the system satisfies him/her, go for it. It comes down to me telling them that it depends upon what they can or cannot hear and what they can live with in the long term, subject to what they are willing to spend. Often the limiting factor is the limited $$$.